106 
ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 
and that it had then spread northward to British Columbia 
and southern Alaska, and eastward to the Rocky Mountains. 
Its whole distribution is thus confined to the north-western 
United States and western Canada. The term “ goat ” is really 
a misnomer. It is not a true goat, nor yet a true antelope. 
We might with more justification call it a “ goat-antelope.” 
In some respects it resembles the European chamois 
(Rupicapra), in others the serow and goral (Nemorrhaedus) 
and the takin (Budorcas). The last three are confined to Asia, 
and all of them, though generically distinct from the Rocky 
Mountain goat, belong to the same group of goat-antelopes. 
A species of Nemorrhaedus occurs in the mountains of 
Japan and northern China, and we might, with Dr. Brown, 
be tempted to assume that Oreamnos has arisen in America 
from some Pleistocene immigrant of the genus Nemor¬ 
rhaedus.* But surely the genus Oreamnos, to which the 
Rocky Mountain goat belongs, must be a very ancient one. 
The peculiar discontinuous range of the whole group implies 
antiquity. The remains of the mountain goat have been dis¬ 
covered in Potter Creek Cave of California, while Mr. Cragin 
is said to have described a fossil species of Nemorrhaedus 
from the Pleistocene of Colorado. I have not been able to 
trace the description or further particulars. At any rate, 
the more remote origin of Oreamnos is shrouded in obscurity. 
We certainly have no definite evidence that its ancestors came 
from Asia in Pleistocene times. They probably reached the 
continent much earlier. 
The Rocky Mountain goat occasionally falls a victim to the 
cougar or puma, better known in the west as the “ mountain 
lion,” which, like its prey, is a typically American animal. 
From a distributional point of view it is one of the most 
remarkable mammals, as it exceeds all others in the great 
extent of its range. Its utter indifference to climatic condi¬ 
tions is shown by its occurrence from southern Patagonia 
right through the tropics to western Canada. It flourishes 
from the plains of Florida to the regions of the permanent 
snows in the Rockies and Andes. It is true that those who 
take note of small differences no longer believe in one species 
Brown, A. E., “ North American Big Game,” p. 75, 
